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Daily Archives: October 2, 2009

Southern Maryland's Game 2 starter, Keith Ramsey, used to be a Patriot. (Staff file photo)

By RYAN DUNLEAVY

STAFF WRITER

BRIDGEWATER — Keith Ramsey took the mound Friday night armed with an extensive familiarity of the opposing team and its ballpark.

Those subplots meant nothing to Somerset Patriots manager Sparky Lyle, who said suchknowledge did not give the upper hand to his former pitcher and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in Game 2 of the Atlantic League Championship Series.

But tell him that Ramsey will be packing his good curveball, and the tune quickly changes.

“If he gets that big curveball over the plate, he’s going to be very tough,” Lyle said. “The rest of that stuff, it has nothing to do with it. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he pitched well.”

Ramsey, 29, entered the game with a career 10-9 record and 3.46 ERA at TD Bank Ballpark from his stint as a fan favorite on the 2006-07 Patriots. Friday marked his first debut as a visitor.

“It’s weird being in the other dugout, but I love pitching here,” he said. “It’s a beautiful park and I always had fun here. I’ll try not to make it that way (different than any other start) but I can’t promise what I’ll be like at game time.”

Ramsey was a 2006 All-Star but his numbers dipped the following season, and by the end he was a forgotten man. The left-hander questionably was passed over for the Game 1 start in the championship series and was the only member of the pitching staff not to appear in a postseason game.

“I don’t think I have to prove anything to anyone,” he said when asked if that memory will be on his mind at all. “If you start to play those games, it’s going to catch up to you, you’re going to press and it’s going to hurt you in the long run. I’m comfortable in my own skin.”

As a potential show of respect for the curveball, Lyle wrote out a lineup with only one left-handed batter (catcher Jason Belcher) for the first time all season.

Ramsey held lefties to a .254 batting average and allowed three runs in six innings Sept. 13 in a no-decision against the Patriots. That game set up the plan for Friday.

“You have to be aggressive with them and prove you’re going to be in the strike zone all day,” he said. “Then, when you have to, you take them out of the strike zone.”

Belcher, who caught Ramsey during 2007, said the approach of the Patriots’ lineup would be based more on their recent meeting than on history.

“You’ve got to be patient and make him throw strikes,” Belcher said. “You’re going to get that curveball so you’ve got to be disciplined about it.”

Guessing game

Lyle still had not made a decision on his Game 3 starter as of Friday afternoon. He was waiting to see if the Patriots would be up 2-0 or tied 1-1.

Left-hander Brian Adams and right-hander Josh Miller both were told to be ready to start.

“I went through my normal day-before routine,” Adams said. “I’m absolutely a guy who likes my routine, but in playoff baseball you have to adjust on the fly. You have to be flexible. If I’m Game 4, I’ll do the same routine (Saturday).”

Hagen hanging in

Matt Hagen, who aggravated an earlier knee injury while running the bases in Game 1, was back at second base for Game 2. Lyle had hinted that he might play Teuris Olivares in the field and use Hagen as the designated hitter but settled on the opposite assignments.

BRIDGEWATER — Jim Magrane became Pitcher of the Year and a master of disguise all in a matter of a few hours Thursday night.

Jim Magrane "wasn't sharp" but still held the Blue Crabs to two runs in seven innings Thursday night. (Courtesy of the Patriots)

Both the Somerset Patriots’ ace and his manager, Sparky Lyle, said he lacked his regular command in Game 1 of the Atlantic League Championship Series.

Good luck getting any agreement from the opposing clubhouse after Magrane hid any signs of struggle and delivered seven strong innings to lead the Patriots to an 8-2 victory against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in front of 3,834 at TD Bank Ballpark.

“He was very good but he wasn’t as sharp,” said Lyle, who explained that his right-hander was bringing his shoulder too far back in his delivery. “He’s one of those guys that can straighten stuff out as he goes. His last inning was his best inning as far as throwing the ball.”

The Patriots jumped on starter Jarrett Grube in the second inning as Jeff Nettles led off with a single, moved to third on Matt Hagen’s double and scored on a groundout.

Travis Anderson and Mike Rodriguez followed with singles and Elliott Ayala added a sacrifice fly. Anderson would have been out at the plate because of a strong throw by center fielder Jeremy Owens, but he collided with the catcher and knocked the ball loose.

Two consecutive two-out walks loaded the bases for Noah Hall, who drilled the first pitch into the left-center-field gap for a two-run double and a 5-0 lead.

That was all for Grube, who surrendered five runs on five hits and recorded five outs.

“That was our game plan,” Hagen said of taking an early lead against an opponent playing on shorter rest. “We knew Jim was going to go out and do and what he does. If we got them early, we thought it might take some wind out of their sails.”

The Patriots made the most of a leadoff single in the third, adding two runs without notching another hit.

Relievers Paul Estrada and Matt Righter combined to hit three batters in the inning — including two with the bases loaded — and Estrada also misplayed a bunt that opened the floodgates.

“I always expect a low-scoring game,” Lyle said. “We’re playing for a championship. I’ll expect that again (Friday night). But we got some timely hits, and then they started hitting batters and walking in runs. . . . I’m glad we got to them when we did.”

Magrane, who was named Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year earlier in the day, found trouble with one out in the sixth inning as back-to-back hits put two runners in scoring position.

After striking out former major-leaguer Michael Tucker, Magrane issued his third walk and a run-scoring infield single that kept the bases loaded in a 7-2 game.

Octavio Martinez looped a fly ball down the right-field line, which Mike Rodriguez snared in foul territory after a long run. Rodriguez leaped over the tarp and landed on his feet in the lawn-seating area next to the home bullpen.

“A base hit there and you don’t know what that ends up being,” Lyle said.

Escaping the jam earned Magrane a return trip to the mound — despite having reached 100 pitches — and he responded with a 1-2-3 inning to close a quality start. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six.

“It was about minimizing damage,” Magrane said. “I was trying to keep the ball in on their hands. There were a couple innings I was super sharp and a couple innings that were off. . . . They’re obviously a great team or they wouldn’t be here, but you’ve just to attack and see how they counter.”

Hagen appeared to aggravate the knee injury that caused him to miss three weeks earlier this month while running the bases in the sixth.

“I kind of mis-stepped,” Hagen said. “It calmed down after a few innings, but it’s not too comfy.”

Lyle said Hagen could be the designated hitter in Game 2, which will be played at 7 p.m. tonight, but that might not be necessary.